Often it is desirable to mount a device within the case of a computer. When the space within the case is severely limited, as it is in a laptop type computer, details of mounting the device become critical. The details of mounting the device are especially critical when the device has ports for connection to external electrical circuits such as communication lines.
Many standard devices for connecting a computer to communications lines are available on the marketplace. Also, new versions of the standard devices are produced with short development times. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to update the device mounted within a computer to a different type of device, for example a modem to an Ethernet connection, and also to be able to change the device as new and better models are placed on the marketplace by device vendors.
For example, a PCMCIA card is a type of device for which a convenient mounting within a computer is desirable. PCMCIA is an acronym which stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. PCMCIA architecture is disclosed further in the book "PCMCIA System Architecture" second edition, author Don Anderson, published by MindShare, Inc., and Addison Wesley, in 1995, all disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Also, it is desirable that the computer be easy for a user to connect to the external communications lines. Various methods of connection to external communications lines have been proposed.
However, there remains an unsolved need to easily connect a standard type of communication device to external communication lines in a manner that makes the computer easy to use, while also making it easy for the device to be changed when the user desires to change the nature of the device, or to update the device to a newer model.